Morning Buzz: Meteor shower to delight star gazers

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Buzz for Friday, October 20. Be prepared for a windy day with rain likely. A high of 20 degrees is expected in the city today with temps expected to reach 22 in the west. Enjoy your day!

Traffic Buzz

WEST RYDE: Wires are down on the road, on Victoria Road at Endeavour St. One eastbound lane is closed to traffic.

CARLTON: Wires are down on the road, affecting traffic on the Princes Highway at Arthur St. There are heavy traffic conditions in the area.

MASCOT: A truck breakdown is affecting traffic on Botany Road at Wentworth Avenue.

Meteor shower will delight star gazers

Meteor showers are basically the tail ends of comets.

The night sky for the rest of this month is looking good with no harsh moonlight to wash out our after dinner skies.

It’s a great target for the novice telescope owner as well because it’s just so easy to find stars and star clusters.

It’s also a good week ahead for watching the Orionids meteor shower visible across Australia, with the peak of the shower occurring this Saturday morning. Read more.

Heavy rain is on the way for Sydney after months of dry weather

Storm clouds are brewing over Sydney with rain on the way. Photo: Louise Kennerley

Sydney will experience its first decent rainfall in months with heavy showers and possible storms forecast for Friday.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts 15-25 mm of rain will fall on Sydney, most likely in the morning.

It will be the first decent rain for the city's withered parks, sports fields and gardens since June 10, when Sydney received 20 mm in one day. Read more.

Police charge 14-year-old driver over Werrington crash that injured six

Rescue crews worked for an hour to free the woman from the wreckage. Photo: AAP

A 14-year-old boy who was allegedly driving a ute that crashed in Werrington last week, injuring six people, was driving without a licence and failed to give his details to officers, police allege.

The boy was charged on Thursday, a week after he allegedly took a Holden Commodore for a "joyride" with friends through western Sydney.

He allegedly crashed head-on into a ute driven by Penrith nurse Danielle Oldfield, 27, who was trapped in the wreckage for an hour and suffered extensive injuries to her arms and legs. Read more.

Teenage motorcyclist dies in crash in Wetherill Park

A report will be prepared for the Coroner following a fatal crash at Wetherill Park on Thursday.

Just after 1pm, police and emergency services were called to the intersection of Redfern and Frank streets, following reports of a crash between a truck and a motorcycle. Read more.

Westpac refunds $65m to 200,000 customers over discount errors

Customers were meant to get discounts on products including home loans, credit cards and transaction accounts. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Westpac is refunding $65 million to about 200,000 customers after it failed to pass on benefits they should have received under package deals offered by the bank.

The bank on Thursday said an internal review had detected problems whereby it failed to automatically pay consumers all the benefits they were entitled to under packages sold through Westpac, St George, BankSA and Bank of Melbourne.

Under the packages, customers were meant to get discounts on products including home loans, credit cards and transaction accounts, but the bank said it had not given consumers discounts on "ancillary" products including home and contents insurance. Read more.

Don’t miss out on having a say on same-sex marriage

A replacement survey form can also be requested online or call the information line.

If you’re calling from Australia the information line – 1800 572 113 – is open from 8am until 8pm. Read more.

Man refused bail after alleged pursuit in stolen truck

A man has been charged following a pursuit with a stolen truck, loaded with stolen baby formula in Condell Park earlier this week. Photo: NSW Police

A man has been charged after allegedly sparking a police pursuit while driving a stolen truck loaded with hundreds of tins of baby formula in Sydney's west this week.

Officers from the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command tried to stop the white Hino table-top truck at Condell Park on Tuesday morning.

The driver allegedly failed to stop and police began a pursuit that was ended a short time later due to safety concerns. Read more.

Channel Nine to breathe new life into Footy Show

Good old days: Gary Burns with the late Richie Benaud at a Channel Nine Christmas Party. Photo: Rick Stevens

The creative genius of Gary Burns – the man responsible for The Footy Show and The Matty Johns Show – is about to go full circle and make a stunning return to Channel Nine.

As revealed by Fairfax Media this week, Nine is turning The Footy Show on its head with founding host Paul "Fatty" Vautin being shuffled on after 24 years, with his co-host Erin Molan heading a new program on Thursday nights.

Burns was a Packer lieutenant for many years, including two decades as head of sport, before moving to Fox Sports in 2011.

Last year, he was effectively sidelined when Steve Crawley left Nine and joined Fox. Read more.